Kurt's Roommate
by sometimeroundmidnight
Summary: "In which Kurt helps Quinn to find love in NY" inspired by tumblr post.


**A/N: **_This was inspired by the tumblr edit by "hemo" post/25934694337. credit to them for the edit, this is just what happened in my mind after._

"I have a roommate."

Quinn looked up from her laptop at Kurt's statement. They were sitting in the coffee shop they met in a few mornings a week. Usually they shared coffee and conversation while Quinn wrote and Kurt scoped out potential fashion ideas. They had spent the last few minutes in silence until Kurt's abrupt comment. Quinn looked at her coffee mate quizzically.

"So… do I?"

"You should meet her."

"Kurt, what-"

"I know you said you aren't looking for anything with anyone right now, but seriously, your writing has gotten so depressing, it's left me in a funk."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the man's dramatics and looked back at her laptop. It hadn't gotten _that_ depressing… So most of her endings were leaning toward the darker side these days, so what? Not everything had a happy ending. People didn't always meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after. There wasn't a light at the end of every—Okay, so she could maybe see a little bit where he was coming from.

"And what makes you think this roommate of yours will fix my supposed slump?"

"She's… She's Rachel. She is the epitome of sunshine and happiness. There is no one in the world that could spend any amount of time with Rachel Berry and not have their spirits lifted at least a bit. Come on Quinn, even if it doesn't work out romantically, she's a great person to be around, and I think we have reached the point in our coffee relationship that you meet my roommate."

Quinn laughed at that. They had reached some sort of friendship in the past months. What had originally started as two strangers sharing a table had evolved to exchanging phone numbers, then the occasional text, then phone calls when Kurt's excitements could no longer be conveyed via text.

The first time they had met, Quinn had been startled out of her writing when a well-dressed man sat at her table and began talking. "Honey, I'm not going to hit on you, I'm not even going to talk at you, but everywhere else is full, and I've seen you before and nobody is ever with you, so if you don't mind, I'm going to sit here quietly, and you just keep doing your thing." Quinn had been so startled she had simply nodded, and they both went back to what they were doing. Quinn wrote her articles, occasionally glancing at her notepad for reference, and Kurt people-watched, occasionally turning to his own notepad to scribble something down or sketch out something he had seen.

"Okay, Kurt. I suppose I'll meet your roommate. But it's not a date. I'm simply meeting your friend, as another friend of yours. I'm not interested in dating right now." With that, Quinn turned back to her computer. This article had to be proofed and emailed to her editor in an hour. She had no time for Kurt's games.

* * *

A few days later, Quinn found herself pressing the intercom button at the apartment building Kurt's hasty scrawl had led her to. "One second Quinn!" Kurt's voice buzzed from the speaker at an abnormally high pitch, and Quinn heard giggling from behind him. She rolled her eyes and sat on the bottom step of the stoop. Just as she had taken out her notepad to entertain herself with doodles or free-writing, she heard the door to the building swing open behind her, accompanied by Kurt's laughter and the giggles she had heard earlier. Quinn stood up and turned around, only to be faced with one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

"Quinn, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is my friend Quinn, from the coffee shop. She's an amazing writer." Quinn snapped out of her daze and looked down at the ground, blushing. She glared playfully at Kurt before turning back to the woman.

"Pleased to meet you, Rachel." Quinn held her hand out politely.

"Likewise, I'm sure." Rachel shook Quinn's hand. Kurt looked between the two girls with a smile on his face before breaking them both out of their daze.

"Okay! Shall we then?" Kurt began walking determinedly down the sidewalk. Quinn followed and turned slightly to speak to Rachel, who had fallen into step beside her.

"So, Rachel… Do you know where we're going? Because he wouldn't tell me."

Rachel smiled at Quinn before replying. "No, he wouldn't tell me either. He seems rather excited about it, but then he's excited about almost everything. Sometimes I wonder if I should keep at-home drug tests around and submit him to random screenings."

Quinn laughed; the idea was one she had considered herself on the occasion that Kurt looked like he was seizing over a scarf or a pair of boots. "Probably a good idea. So, when you aren't considering enrolling your roommate in caffeine rehab, what do you do?" Quinn closed her eyes tightly for a second at her lame attempt at a joke and shook her head. Rachel was saved from answering when Quinn's decision to walk with her eyes closed caused her to trip and she nearly threw herself into the street. Rachel caught her before she caused a collision, but the damage was done. Quinn's face was bright red with embarrassment. She was so mortified she couldn't speak, and simply nodded when Rachel asked if she was okay. They walked in silence for a few minutes, still following Kurt, before Rachel remembered Quinn's initial question.

"I'm a singer."

"… Huh?" _Eloquent, Quinn. You're a writer, you're supposed to be good with words, and the best you can manage is 'huh?' No wonder Kurt needs to set you up._

"I'm a singer. Right now I'm workshopping for a musical. We're aiming for Broadway, obviously, but we're still in the rehearsal stages right now. In a few weeks, we'll do a rough performance for some investors, and hopefully it will get off the ground. I think it's promising. Obviously, or I wouldn't be wasting my time…"

The girls trailed to a stop beside Kurt, who was beaming up at an awning with a proud smile. Quinn turned to Kurt and deadpanned.

"Really, Kurt? The coffee shop?"

Kurt turned to Quinn, mildly offended. "Yes, the coffee shop! I thought we might go somewhere comfortable and familiar. After all, it's a lovely shop, or we wouldn't hang out here so much, and Rachel has never been." With that, Kurt turned and strode purposefully into the shop.

Quinn rolled her eyes and caught the door behind him. She stood back and gestured to Rachel. "After you." Rachel caught her eye and smiled, and Quinn blushed and looked down. When Quinn went to follow Rachel, she was abruptly met with a freezing sensation from her chest down. Apparently some businessman had decided Quinn was holding the door for him as well, and his extra-large iced coffee had just become intimately acquainted with the front of Quinn's shirt.

Kurt leapt to his feet with napkins at the ready, Rachel right behind him, as the businessman muttered something that may or may not have been an apology and left. Both looked incredibly concerned for Quinn's mental health when she started laughing hysterically. "I… _told_ you!" Quinn gasped at Kurt between bouts of laughter. She was practically doubled over at this point, but she was regaining enough control of her motor function to attempt to help Kurt mop up the mess.

"What did she tell you, exactly?" Rachel's tone had an amused ring to it, and when Quinn looked up, her eyes were dancing with mirth.

"I told him I have horrible luck, particularly meeting new people, and that if he wanted to keep himself and you in one piece, he should probably keep you away from me. I mean the only reason I didn't cause any harm the first time I met him was the surprise of it all. But I sure made up for it the next time, didn't I Kurt?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and led the still sopping wet blonde to their designated table. "Yes, yes, you warned me. I still don't forgive you for that by the way. Those pants were expensive."

"What did you do?" Rachel asked Quinn with a gasp.

"HE sat down very abruptly in the middle of my article, which I had spent the entire night writing. I was already a few cups of coffee in, with zero sleep, and I… jumped."

"She dumped coffee number five on my lap."

"You startled me!"

"You MAIMED my trousers!"

"It was an _accident_!"

The two continue bickering for a while as Rachel watches, laughing at their antics. As the night wears on, Quinn learns that Rachel also likes to bake and rescue stray cats, and that Kurt is allergic to said cats, but Rachel won't stop bringing them in off the streets. She learns Rachel's play is called _Spring Awakening_, and that she downplayed her role immensely, as well as the show's projected success. Kurt tells Quinn that he and Rachel went to high school together, and that Rachel had carried their glee club to nationals three years in a row.

Rachel learns that Quinn is very clumsy, but once she relaxes there are less mishaps. She learns that Quinn is very passionate about certain subjects, but tends to get embarrassed if you let her talk for too long, as though she thinks she is talking too much about something no one cares about. Kurt and Rachel both learn that Quinn was a cheerleading captain in high school, and she has a few national championships under her belt as well.

The later it gets, the more the conversation is monopolized by Quinn and Rachel. Kurt simply smirks to himself and texts his boyfriend under the table, injecting a comment here and there, but mostly letting the girls talk. Eventually, he looks at the time and decides it's time for him to go.

"Listen you two, I've had a great time, but I have to get up for work in the morning, so I have to go. You guys finish your coffee though, I'm fine walking by myself. Quinn, that shirt is a goner, don't even bother trying to save it. Rachel, let me know when you get in, okay?" With that, Kurt struts out of the coffee shop. Even though they had been talking up to that point, Kurt's absence brings an awkward lull to the conversation.

"So… a cheerleader, huh?" Rachel smirks at Quinn, and the tension dissipates. The talking eventually becomes flirting, and they end up enjoying each other's company for a few more hours before the barista tells them it's closing time. Both girls are surprised they have been talking so long without running out of things to say.

"I suppose we should- Do you- …Can I walk you home?" Quinn stutters and blushes, looking everywhere but Rachel until she can string her words together. Rachel smiles and nods, and they exit the shop, Quinn once again holding the door for Rachel on their way out.

The walk back is mostly silent, but it's comfortable. Two blocks from the coffee shop, Quinn musters up the courage to slide her hand into Rachel's. She holds her breath for a beat, studiously looking dead ahead before sighing quietly in relief when Rachel intertwines their fingers. Quinn can feel her cheeks becoming tinged with pink yet again as the girls shyly meet each other's gaze.

"Well, this is me." The girls come to a stop in front of Rachel's building, their hands still intertwined, and face each other.

"Yes. It is." Quinn musters her strength and meets Rachel's gaze. Rachel looks like she is laughing on the inside at how endearingly _nervous_ the blonde is. Her eyes are dancing again, and Quinn can't help but feel comforted by her gaze.

"I had a good time tonight, I'm glad Kurt introduced us." Rachel smiles gently and squeezes Quinn's hand.

"Me too. I was, uh.. I was wondering… I mean if you aren't… I mean I don't know if you…"

"Quinn. Slow down." Rachel is smiling gently at the taller girl, waiting for her to spit out whatever it is she's trying to say. Quinn huffs a small laugh at her ineptitude.

"Sorry, I'm a mess."

"It's okay. It's cute." Quinn flushes hard at Rachel's comment, prompting Rachel to giggle. The laugh calms Quinn down enough to meet Rachel's eyes again.

"I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to go out with me sometime." Quinn rushes the sentence out in one breath, but slowly enough that Rachel understands what she is asking, which is good, because Quinn isn't sure she can manage that again.

"I would love to."

"Wait, really?" Quinn looks up from the spot between them on the sidewalk that her eyes had found as soon as she finished her sentence. Rachel smiles.

"Yes, Quinn. I would love to go out with you sometime."

"Oh! I- Okay! Okay, cool. Good." Quinn's rambling is cut off when she feels warm lips on her cheek. Quinn's eyes slide shut at the contact, and she feels a small hand slip something into her coat pocket.

"It was nice meeting you, Quinn. I hope to hear from you soon." Quinn watches, dazed, as Rachel walks up the steps to her building and smiles once more over her shoulder before she lets herself in. The blonde stands there a few more seconds before the cold forces her into a cab and on her way home. Once in the cab, Quinn remembers that Rachel slipped something into her pocket, and immediately pulls it out. It's the coffee collar Rachel had at the shop, and there's writing on it in black marker.

"Next time, let's leave Kurt at home, okay?" Following the words is a little drawing of a smiley face, then what Quinn assumes is Rachel's phone number. It's signed with a dash next to loopy signature that simply reads "Rachel" with a star after it. Quinn smiles and lets her head fall back on the headrest of the cab. _Who knew meeting Kurt's roommate would be so exciting?_


End file.
